Howard County officially raised its new flag Monday in front of the county’s George Howard Building. The design by long-time county resident and designer Esen Paradiso won a year-long competition that attracted 209 entries from 102 individuals. The new flag was approved by the County Council and signed into law by the executive in May.

“This bold unique design is unlike any other in our state and is certain to inspire us and be recognizable to all,” said County Executive Calvin Ball.

“Our new county flag reflects Howard County‘s natural and human resources and historically proud and future-oriented central Maryland community,” explained Ball. “It represents an evolving agricultural past blended with an optimistic culture, environment and economic future, which is cosmopolitan, vibrant and thriving.

“The arch represents both the historical past of Howard County and its dynamic future. The stripes represent Howard County’s historical and contemporary abundance of agriculture and natural resources in western Howard County and throughout.

“The golden circle represents the boundless energy of the sun, empowering a diverse community, with a view toward the horizon, a bright and optimistic future for all of Howard County. … The blue represents the optimism of endless skies, the hope of a bright future, the abundance of natural and recreational resources. The green represents the planned preservation and utilization of the natural environment, the continual investment in the thriving agricultural economy, and the promise of a growing and culturally, appreciative community.”

The old Howard County flag is lowered by members of the police and fire honor guard. MarylandReporter.com photo by Len Lazarick

Ball honored the old flag but made no reference to its symbolism. It also won a competition 56 years ago. The old flag took its dominant theme from the red-and-white bottony cross in the Maryland flag.

According to the history of the Maryland flag on the web page of the Maryland Secretary of State: “Marylanders who sympathized with the South adopted the red-and-white of the Crossland arms as their colors. Following Lincoln’s election in 1861, red and white ‘secession colors’ appeared on everything from yarn stockings and cravats to children’s clothing. People displaying these red-and-white symbols of resistance to the Union and to Lincoln’s policies were vigorously prosecuted by Federal authorities.”

“During the war, Maryland-born Confederate soldiers used both the red-and-white colors and the cross bottony design from the Crossland quadrants of the Calvert coat of arms as a unique way of identifying their place of birth. Pins in the cross bottony shape were worn on uniforms, and the headquarters flag of the Maryland-born Confederate general Bradley T. Johnson was a red cross bottony on a white field.”

The red-and-white cross and the checkered black and gold of the Calvert family founders were eventually combined in the 1880s as a sign of reconciliation after the Civil War.

MarylandReporter.com photo by Len Lazarick.

Here is Monday’s flag-raising story by The Sun’s April Santana with extensive quotes from Paradiso and information about the design process.

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